The Sanford Inquisition
by xSweetiePiex
Summary: Sandy has some questions as to Ryan's whereabouts. Set after The Road Warrior. Missing parenting scene.


**Hey! This is a scene that I would have liked to see in "The Road Warrior" It's just a little missing parenting between Sandy and Ryan. Where is he in his kids' lives? I don't know!**

**Summary: Sandy has some questions as to Ryan's whereabouts. Set after The Road Warrior. Missing parenting scene.**

**Rated: K+**

**Not mine... don't sue! I don't own The O.C. Please read and review!**

The conversation between himself and Sadie just the day before rang in his ears.

"_So what are you gonna tell your folks?"_

"_Sandy and Kirsten are used to it."_

But now, Ryan wasn't so sure. Seth had told him yesterday that his guardians didn't know he wasn't home the night before, but now he doubted what his brother told him. Sure, Sandy was a bit preoccupied with the Newport Group, but he couldn't be that oblivious. He **was** a lawyer. Thinking about that made Ryan remember exactly how he came to Newport in the first place. Sandy was **_his_** lawyer, the person who kept him out of Juvie, then gave him his card, and picked him up after he got thrown out and roughed up. Ryan owed Sandy so much that he could probably never give back, but at least he could give him the truth. Or some form of it, at least.

The events of yesterday swirled around in Ryan's head, making it rather hard to sleep. Getting his ass kicked by Johnny's dad and his crew. Breaking up with Marissa. Playing a second round of strip poker with Sadie. He couldn't even wrap his head around it. He sighed, pulling himself up out of bed. He had a lot of thinking and figuring out to do. Life could be so complicated sometimes.

Lost in thought, Ryan didn't even hear the knock on the door. Outside the door, Sandy stood impatiently. He knocked again, louder. His impatience turned to concern when he received no answer from his young charge.

"Ryan!" Sandy yelled through the wooden barrier separating the two.

This snapped Ryan out of his thoughts. "Door's open." When Sandy entered, Ryan felt he had to give a bit more as to why he didn't open it in the first place. "Sorry, couldn't hear you."

Sandy sat down on the edge of Ryan's bed and motioned for Ryan to sit next to him. Reluctantly, he did. Ryan felt self-conscious with his bruised and swollen face. He had thought it would be easier to hide, but with Sandy this close to him, it was impossible. After a few moments, Sandy started. "So, got that helping inner-city kids paint murals on the underpass?" Sandy indicated Ryan's injuries. It was clear that Sandy didn't believe Seth's story as to Ryan's whereabouts.

Ryan looked down, ashamed. He hated lying to Sandy and Kirsten. Which was odd, really, because he often lied to his mom and her boyfriends without a second thought. After thinking about it a few moments, it did make sense. He trusted and respected the Cohens. He just feared his mom and her boyfriends.

In a way, Sandy's catching him in his, actually _Seth's,_ lie made him feel good. Not that he would ever admit that. It meant that Sandy cared enough to notice he was gone. That was something that would never happen when he was with his mom.

Ryan started to answer his guardian. "I…" He couldn't come up with a plausible lie. He was out of practice at this type of thing. Part of him wanted Sandy to cut him off and just yell at him. It would make his job a whole lot easier. But he figured Sandy knew this and was just going to let Ryan struggle. "You know, those kids are pretty tough."

That wasn't exactly that great of a lie. Sandy barely suppressed a smile. He put his hand to his mouth and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He had hoped the kid would come clean about not being home the night before last. "I know you weren't home." Ryan dropped his gaze to the floor, where he focused on the carpet underneath his feet. "Ryan." Sandy didn't sound as mad as Ryan figured he'd be. "Ryan, look at me." Ryan lifted his head slightly, only enough to make eye contact.

Sandy sighed when Ryan didn't say anything. "You're almost 18, kid. Look, if you want to go out with your friends late, I can't stop you. We give you a curfew because we care about you and want to make sure you're okay."

Ryan was fine until that last part. It hurt him to lie to people who genuinely cared about him. This was a first for him.

Sandy continued, not missing a beat, "But I'd hope you'd at least tell me the truth when you stay out all night. Lying is not acceptable."

Ryan wanted to say that technically it wasn't him who lied, but thought it would be better not to bring Seth into this. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, and then opened them again. Ryan debated with himself whether or not he should tell Sandy the whole truth. If he should tell him about Johnny's dad and Sadie and everything. He took a deep breath.

"I…I…" This wasn't as easy as he had thought. "I went with Sadie to get child support money from Johnny's dad." Ryan said quietly.

"What? Who's Sadie?" Sandy was shocked to say the least. He almost regrettedbeing so hard on Ryan.

"Johnny's cousin." Ryan looked away from Sandy. "The bank was going to foreclose on their house. Johnny's mom had no other way to get the money. I couldn't let Sadie go alone." Ryan looked back towards Sandy, searching his face for any sign of anger.

Sandy was almost speechless. "What happened?"

"Well, we found out that his dad was all the way out in Indio. We had to stay the night at a motel." Ryan paused, waiting for Sandy to really let him have it. When he didn't say anything, Ryan continued, cautiously. "He wouldn't pay the money back. Sadie was pissed, and she hit his car, and one of the guys grabbed her. I tried to stop him, and the rest of them beat me up." Upon hearing this, Sandy gently touched Ryan's face, and Ryan jumped a little.

"Sorry." Sandy replied.

"But I went back and got the money. Turns out me and Johnny had a lot more in common than I thought."

Wow, that was more than Ryan had probably said since he got there. But, once he started talking, the words just flowed out. He couldn't even stop them.

Ryan heard Sandy take a deep breath in. Ryan couldn't believe that he had left his verbose guardian speechless. The thought almost made Ryan laugh, but he didn't want to get into any more trouble.

"You know," Sandy started, "I'm always here for you. You could have come to me. I could have gone with you… or given you the…"

"I'm not going to take any more of your money," Ryan interrupted. Ryan had been thinking a lot about everything since he had talked to Johnny's dad and Sadie. "I can't pay you back as it is."

Sandy was taken aback at what he had said. "Pay us back? Ryan, we never expect you to pay us back." His voice suddenly became more soothing and calm. "You could have gotten more seriously hurt. You know you can trust me with anything, don't you?"

"Yeah, I just…" Ryan couldn't find the words.

"Just what?"

"Just… needed to get away for awhile." That was probably the hardest thing for Ryan to admit.

Sandy paused. "I understand. It's been hard for everyone. A lot has happened in your life. But taking off is never the answer."

"I didn't just take off…" Ryan suddenly got defensive.

"I think that leaving over night without telling anyone and asking Seth to cover for you so we won't find out constitutes 'taking off'" Ryan stopped arguing because Sandy did have a point.

"You're right." Ryan responded quietly. Sandy was surprised because if this conversation were with Seth, he would have fought on a technicality forever.

Ryan didn't say anything, waiting for Sandy to ground him or give him some type of punishment.

It was clear to Sandy that Ryan had talked all he could. He had reached his quota for that day. "So, here's how I see it. You took off. That was wrong. But, it was for a good cause. Next time, though, I expect you to come to us. Or at least, someone, okay?"

"Okay." Ryan replied cautiously, waiting for the inevitable catch.

"Come here." Sandy calmly told him.

_Oh no! _Ryan thought. _What is he going to do? Hit me?_

Ryan obediently walked over to Sandy and held his breath.

"Sheesh. Those guys sure did a number on you." Sandy lifted Ryan's chin so he could have a better view of the damage. Sandy gently patted Ryan's cheek. "Come on. You hungry? The Kirsten's gonna whip up a mean batch of pancakes this morning."

Ryan groaned. "Um… I already ate."

Sandy looked at him with mock-anger and cleared his throat. "Consider it part of your punishment." Sandy laughed and put his arm around Ryan, happy he didn't push him away or recoil from his touch.

The two made their way into the kitchen, ready for some (food item that maybe resembled) pancakes. Secretly, Ryan enjoyed Kirsten's terrible cooking. At least she tried. That was more than his mom ever did.

Maybe Ryan owed the Cohens that same amount of effort to trust them. Unlike Kirsten's cooking, which was never that good, the Cohen's track record for never letting him down was impeccable. There was never a quiet day living with them. But, that's exactly what Ryan liked.

**I might continue this... I'm not sure. What do you think? Love it? Hate it? Please review to tell me what you think!**


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